Translation Conventions for This Website
Unless marked or noted otherwise, all English translations of Scripture on this website are my own translations.
The Translation
The English translation used on this website is first of all a literal concordant translation from the original language. Concordant means there is a one-for-one correspondence or agreement between the words (or expressions) in the original language and the words (or expressions) in the English translation. But the translation goes beyond the minimal level of a literal concordant translation. I have endeavored to maintain logical equivalence, to include the dimensions of emphasis, literal nuance, and contextual sense, while maintaining as high a literary standard as these considerations will allow. I have also inserted alternate, equivalent, or more literal translations wherever it seemed these could help the reader to understand the text.
Translation Text
All words not enclosed in curved braces {abc} or in square brackets [abc] are the literal concordant English translation – whether in normal type, in italic type, or in bold type. Parentheses ( ) are part of the normal punctuation, so words enclosed in parentheses (abc) are not my own words added to the translation, but these words are part of the translation itself. (Words enclosed in curved braces and square brackets are explained below.)
Emphasis
The original languages show emphasis (both lexical and syntactical), but this is rarely shown in an English translation. In the translations on this website, words in italic type or in bold type are words emphasized in the original language – this is not my own added emphasis. (I do not always mark every point of emphasis, so if a translation is not marked with emphasis, this does not necessarily mean there is no emphasis in the original language.) So unlike some translations, italic type in this translation does not mark English words which are added to the text but which do not represent words in the original language.
Second Person Singular and Plural
Modern English does not distinguish the second person singular (Old English thou, thee, thy, thine) from the second person plural (Old English ye, you, your, yours). However, the Biblical languages do distinguish them, and often this distinction is significant. In the translations on this website, this distinction between the singular and the plural is marked with daggers († ‡):
A single dagger † precedes a pronoun or follows a verb which is singular second person.
A double dagger ‡ precedes a pronoun or follows a verb which is plural second person.
Contextual Translations
English words enclosed in curved braces {abc} are contextual translations. These are of two kinds:
(1) Some words in braces are enhancements which display the more subtle nuance or coloration and shading of meaning in the original language – particularly in the aspect of the verb – and though the nuance is literal, nevertheless it is often a choice of what degree of coloration and shading fits the context.
(2) Some words in braces are added for contextual sense or for English style – and though the sense or style is often clearly implied or assumed in the context – particularly in ellipses – nevertheless the author did not verbally express them in the original language, though he could have.
Notations
Words enclosed in square brackets [abc] are notations within the text.
Notations which follow a forward slash [/abc] are alternative translations.
Notations which follow a double forward slash [//abc] are equivalent expressions.
Notations which follow a back slash [\abc] are more literal translations.
Example: Ephesians 1:13
– in Whom also ‡you ‡yourselves, {after} having heard the word of the truth, the gospel [\good news] of ‡your salvation; – in Whom also, {after} having believed, ‡you ‡yourselves were sealed [/marked with identification] with [/by] the Holy Spirit of promise.
Harvey